Rice (Iresi) Dishes SophistiKatered Catering & Event Planning 602.284.6794 www.sophistikatered.com Nigerian Menu Jollof rice- rice cooked (or baked) with ground tomatoes, peppers, sometimes meat and vegetables, other spices, and comes out reddish in color. Fried rice- rice cooked in oils, vegetables, meats, and spices. White rice- rice cooked or steamed in water, then usually covered with soup. Rice and Beans- rice cooked or steamed in water with read or black eyed peas, then usually covered with soup. Coconut rice- rice cooked or steamed in coconut milk and spices Curry rice- rice cooked or steamed with curry spices Rice and Peas (Jamaiican style)- rice cooked or steamed with coconut milk, spices, and red kidney beans *Browm rice is available to substitute 1
Soups (Obe) Dishes Obe ata (pepper soup)- thick sauce made by boiling ground tomatoes, ground pepper, meat or fish, meat broth or fish broth, onions, vegetable oil or palm oil, and other spices. Obe egusi (plain)- made by grinding melon seeds, and then cooking it with the meat and spices. It usually ends up being yellowish-orange in color. Soups (Obe) Dishes Cont d Obe egusi (with efo)- Similar to obe egusi except that different types of leaves are added to it. Efo (vegetable soup)- similar to obe ata except that different types of leaves are added to it. Extras added to Soups (Obe) Dishes Ewedu- green leaves chopped up and boiled in water, usually has a slippery texture. Ila- okra cut up into small pieces, and boiled in water, also has a slippery texture. Apon/Ogbono- made from boiling ground oro seeds in water, also ends up having a slippery texture. 2
Ewa (beans) Regular- the beans are cooked with ground tomatoes, ground peppers, and spices. Sometimes cooked in combination with maize, or rice, with or without soup. Moyin-Moyin- the beans are skinned and ground, then mixed with ground tomatoes and ground peppers, meats, vegetables, eggs and spices, then put in either aluminum foil or aluminum cans, steamed in a large pot, then taken out and cooled. Akara- the beans are skinned and ground, then mixed with ground tomatoes and ground peppers and spices, then fried in vegetable or palm oil Isu (Yam:white, yellow, water) Boiled Plain- White or yellow yams are peeled, sliced up, usually into pieces about 3 centimeters, and boiled in water salt and sugar Fried- White or yellow yams are cut up into long thin squares and fried in vegetable oil or palm oil. Ojoj O- Water yams are cut up and fried in vegetable oil or palm oil. Asaro- White or yellow yams are peeled, sliced, and diced into small cubes, then cooked with ground tomatoes, peppers, sometimes meat, other spices, and comes out reddish in color. Ikokore- It is similar to asaro but made with a different type of yam called 'water yam' that is softer in texture, and when cooked, usually comes out more brownish in color. Iyan(pounded yam)- The yams are peeled, and ground up on a mortar. Then this 'powder' is placed into boiling water until it has a thick smooth structure. Or made with the 'pounded yam flour'. Amala- dish made from yams, but first, the yams are ground and dried to form a powder. This powder is then put into boiling water, and stirred/beaten until it has a thick smooth structure. The cooked product ends up being very dark brown in color. 3
Ogede (plantain) Dodo- sliced or diced plantains, fried in vegetable oil (some like them yellow, some like them brown) Boli- plantains baked whole in the oven Gari Dried- as is sprinkled over beans With Water- the gari soaked in water, sugar and/or milk sometimes added if desired FunFun- dish also made from the cassava plant. The plant is peeled, ground, soaked sieved, then put under a heavy material to get all the moisture out of it, to form a powder. Then, the funfun is made from putting this powder in some boiling water, and stirring/beating it until it has a thick smooth texture. Maize (yellow corn) Boiled- the corn is still on the cob, and boiled in water and salt Roasted- the corn is still on the cob, and it is roasted in the oven, or on a grill until it is brown Adalu- the corn is off the cob, and boiled with beans Tuwo- the corn is ground into a powder, then put in boiling water and stirred/beat until it has a thick smooth texture. 4
Maize (yellow corn) cont d Ogi- dish made from corn. The corn is ground and dried, and made into a powder. Then this powder is placed in boiling water, and cooked until it has a thin smooth structure. Aadun- the corn is ground, and mixed with ground red pepper. Then oil is added, and it is put in ewe (those green leaves that things can be cooked in) and cooked or baked. It ends up being very spicy (hot) in nature. Kokoro- the corn is ground, then mixed with some ingredients, then rolled into long (about 30 cm) thin (about 1 cm) sticks and fried in vegetable oil. Snacks Suya- Pieces of meat are spiced up, and then baked over a grill on a stick with vegetables (like kabob, but it's usually much hotter) Sausage Rolls- cooked sausage is rolled up in a pastry, and baked in the oven. Meat/ Chicken Pies- seasoned meat, potatoes, and other vegetables and placed in a pastry, and the whole thing is baked. Chin Chin- Some dough is kneaded, then rolled flat, then cut up into small squares, and fried in oil. Scotch Eggs- a mixture of some ingredients are put together, and then hard-boiled eggs are rolled up into them, and the eggs are baked. Groundnuts- shelled peanuts Other nuts- cashews, pecans, and others 5
Desserts Puff Puff- snack made from deep frying a dough mixture into circular balls Puff-puff with sprinkled sugar Custard Chin Chin- Some dough is kneaded, then rolled flat, then cut up into small squares, and fried in oil. Cupkakes Types of Meat/ Fish: Goat Meat, Chicken Guinea fowl & turkey, Ox Tongue, Ox Heart, Cow Foot, Tripe, Oxtail, Cow Skin, Pork, Beef, Dried Beef, Liver, Kidney, Stewing Hen, Chicken, Salmon, Catfish, Tilapia, Dried Fish, Snail Eggs Jollof egg, Fried with tomato and onion, fried with sardines or corn beef 6
Other Menu Items Potato Pourage Spaghetti Noodles with corn and sardines Curry Chicken Curry Goat Curry Vegetables Jerk Chicken Salads Garden Salad Salad with boiled eggs and tuna Coleslaw Cucumber Salad Carrot Salad Fruit Salads: cantaloupe, honeydew, strawberries, pineapple, watermelon 7
Prices: Breakfast Option ($12.50pp)- Yam and eggs, Ogi,, Acara, Toast, Gari Lunch Option-($14.50pp) Rice dish, obe, chicken or beef, plantains, one snack, salad -add other meats for $2.00 more per person -add other soups for $1.00 more per person Dinner Option-($18.00pp) Two Rice dishes, obe, chicken and beef, plantains, two snacks, salad, dessert Dinner starts at 4pm You can also order by the pan. Please ask for prices. Minimum guest order is 20. Menu prices listed are subject to increase at any time due to cost of ingredients. Please verify prices when ordering. Thank you. Beverages: Soda, Malt, Water, Juices, Kool-Aid, Punch, Iced tea, Coffee, Tea, Hot Chocolate (prices vary) 8
All prices include utensils, paper ware, and condiments. Buffet set up is an additional charge. Delivery charge is $35 each way. 9
Ingredients Afang / Ukazi leaves (gnetum African) Dark green Shiny foliage of the creeping afang plant cultivated mostly in Calabar and Igbo land are used a great deal in the cooking of these regions. It can be bought ready shredded from African food stores. Atama leaves / Beletientien This is an annual Herb cultivated in the delta areas. It smells and taste like tarragon; usually used fresh or dried in Banga soup. Use dried leaves sparingly as flavor is more intense. Readily available from African food stores. Avocado (persea Americana) Tropical fruit with thick warty skin usually greenish or purplish in color. The edible flesh inside surrounds a large oval shape seed. It is light yellow and soft when ripe. Avocados can be eaten on its own or cut in half and filled with cooked seafood (Avocado and prawn cocktail). Beans or Cowpeas Black-eye beans or Brown beans have become indispensable in Nigeria cuisine because of it versatility in use. It requires overnight soaking before use for dishes like Akara Moinmom and Gbegiri soup. Banana This is one of the most important food crops in Nigeria. Widely eaten on it's own or in fruit salads they make a good substitute for plantains. The leaves are usually used for wrapping foods such as Anyan-Ekpang or Ebiripo for steaming. Baking foil or greased parchment paper make adequate substitute but do not add the delicate flavour that banana leaves give. Bitterleaf A leafy green vegetable that is widely used in soups like Egusi for its bitter but sweet flavor. The fresh leaves is prepared like spinach and washed with salt; rubbing and squeezing to remove some of the bitterness before use. Can be bought fresh or ready washed and air-dried. Chilli Peppers Chilli peppers are the fruit of Capsicum Frutescens plant with red orange or yellow pods which are very hot rich in Vitamin A & C and widely used in Nigerian cooking. While the flavor in the chilli lies in the flesh and skins much of the heat potency rests in the seeds and veins which can be removed. Green chillies are a lot hotter than the red ones. The active chemical con stituent is capiasin renowned for stimulating digestive process and helping to relieve heat fatigue in hot climates by inducing perspiration. Breadfruit These are large green fruits which hang like lanterns from tress. Only edible when cooked and taste like boiled potatoes. It could also be fried as crisp. Cassava (Manihot esculenta) Cassava is a tropical vegetable with a long tu berous root and dull green palmate leaves. Mature tubers have brown mottled skin with a white fibrous flesh. It can be cooked and 10
eaten with coconut (Eberebe); but mostly used for making Gad (Cassava grains) and Fufu. Used as accompaniment to soups and stews. It can be bought ready made as gaff or cassava flour (Fufu). Cocoyam Cocoyams are similar to large potatoes usually with a fibrous skin. In Nigeria the plant is grown for both it's tubers and leaves. The young and tender leaves are used in preparing Ekpang Nkukwo (cocoa-yam pottage). Spinach leaves make adequate substitute. These tubers can also be boiled roasted or fried. Corn / Maize Sweet corn or maize as it is commonly known is grown throughout Nigeria as a food source. The plant grows to a height of about seven feet. When fully matured the swollen fruits are called cobs and it is these which are picked and used for food. The cobs can be boiled roasted or cooked with beans as a main course. A number of by products are obtained from the grains including Ogi (corn-starch) and corn oil which is low in saturates and cholesterol. Crayfish Smoked dried prawns or shrimps used for flavoring soups and savory dishes. Usually sold whole or grinded. Egusi (cirullus colocynthis) melon seeds Seed of the African melon fruit used in preparing Egusi soup. Should be grinded before use. Can be oily but adds a nutty flavor to the soup. Ewedu (corchorus olitorius) Shiny green leave vegetable rich in Vitamins A C & D. Use in making sauces to accompany stews and enjoyed for its mucilaginous or viscous properties. Sold fresh or dried. Elubo Dried powdered yam flour for making amala (cooked yam flour pudding). Fufu Fermented cassava dough usually served cooked to accompany soups. Garden eggs (solanum melongena) Also knows as African eggplant a member of the aubergine family. A round shiny green and yel low fruit with a slightly bitter taste. Garden eggs are eaten raw as a fruit or diced and added to stews. Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea) Like a set of twins groundnut mature together in light coloured shells which are flaky and easy to break. Grown profusely in Northern Nigeria the seeds are harvested for their oil and protein. They can be eaten raw boiled roasted and pureed for making groundnut soup. Groundnut oil is used for cooking. Iru (locust bean) parkia biglobosa Fermented locust or black beans. They have a slightly salty taste and a pungent smell. They are used as seasoning in soups. Usually sold fresh or dried packed Kaun (Rock salt) potash Usually added to food especially pulses during cooking for faster tenderisation and to increase the viscosity In Okro and Ewedu sauce. Also used for emulsifying oil and water in some traditional soups. 11
Mango (mangifera indica) This kidney shaped fruit is pinkish or yellowish in colour. When fully ripe it is lusciously sweet and succulent with the golden flesh. Mango is common in fruit platters and salad. Millet (pennisetum) Tiny yellow grains obtained from plant that looks like bull rushes with a maize like stalk. Grows widely in Northern Nigeria and used mostly for porridge and gruel. Okro (lady fingers) These vegetables are curved seed pod up to 9 inches Long they are usually eaten cooked in soup and salads. Apon (ogbono Seed) This seeds are obtained from the nuts of the African mango bush and air dried in the sun. It has a subtle aromatic flavor and it's very mucilaginous when cooked. Can be bought whole or powdered. Pawpaw (Carica papaya) This is a fruit of woody herbaceous plant that looks like a tree. It is eaten ripe (yellow or orange in color) in fruit salads or stuffed for starters or main course. Plantain A large member of the banana family plantain is less sweet than banana and is more versatile in use. It is often boiled toasted or fried and served with meat stews because the tissue has a starchy taste than sweet banana. It is best cooked with plenty of spices onions tomatoes and peppers (plantain pottage). Ugwu (Pumpkin leaves) telfairi occidentallis These trailing green leaves of the pumpkin plant rich in minerals and vitamins. Use in various soup preparations It is the chief ingredient in cooking Edikang Ikong soup. Fresh spinach can be used as substitute in any recipe if not available. Pumpkin seeds can also be eaten. Utazi leaves (crongromena ratifolia) This is a bitter tasting pale green leaf usually used for flavouring pepper soup. Very sparingly used. It can also be used as a substitute for bitter leaves. Uzouza leaves or Ikong Etinkinrin This sweet smelling aromatic and spicy pale green leaf vegetable is also used for flavoring soups especially (Ibaba soup). Yam (Dioscorea sp) The plant grows as a vine to height of six to eight feet. The edible tubers comes in various shapes and sizes; usually dark brown in color and hairy to the touch. The flesh is white or yellow and when cooked it has a pleasant flavor when cooked rather like potato. It is harvested in dry season with a gig feast known as Yam Festival in Igbo land. Yam still forms the staple diet of a large number of people in Nigeria. It is cooked in different ways including boiled roasted and fried. When pounded it is served as accompaniment to soups and stews. Sorghum Also known as guinea corn sorghum is cultivated mainly in Northern Nigeria. Used for porridge or pap (gruel). Snail These are large forest creatures covered with a hard shell. Taste rubbery when overcooked it is rather an acquired taste. Oils From a health stand point fats and oils are either saturated or unsaturated. Saturated oils such as butter coconut and palm oil are known to in crease the amount of cholesterol carried in the blood but since regional cuisine is characterized by the type of oil used lesser quantities or half the amount in a given recipe could always be used. 12
Groundnut oil This is used for frying and also added to stews and other savory dishes. It has a pleasant and unobtrusive taste; favorable in making mayonnaise and could be heated to a high temperature without burning. Corn oil This oil pressed from the germ of germ of maize (corn) is high in poly unsaturated and low in cholesterol. It is used the same way as groundnut oil. It can also be heated to a high temperature without burning. Palm oil This rather tasty and nutty thick and waxy rustic red colored oil is extracted from the flesh of the oil-palm nut fruits. It is widely used in Nigerian cooking especially in the traditional soups and stews for color and taste but usually in small quantity as it is high in saturates. Water leaf (talilum triangulare) This is the most widely used of all green leaf vegetables. It is rich in iron calcium and vitamin A and C and it is best eaten lightly cooked in soups and stews. spinach can be used in recipes calling for waterleaf. Kuka leaves Leaves of the baobab tree usually sold dried in powder form and used for Kuka soup. IGBO (garden egg leaves) solanum manocarpum The young leaves of the garden egg plant. African Aubes can be eaten raw in salads or cooked in stews. Soko (celosia argentea) This green leaf vegetable is much preferred in the making of Efo-riro. It taste like spinach. Tete (celosia viddi This green is a close relative to Soko and is used interchangeable or in combination with it. It is widely grown in Western Nigeria 13
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